Not long after, I read some of Bucky Fuller’s books and interviews and again encountered the idea that naiveté and integrity could unlock growth and positive development in ways that irony and sarcasm could only close off and guard against.

I’m still pretty bad at this stuff. Sometimes, I’m still a little boy who needs to prove he’s special with displays of caustic wit.

But I’m learning to be stupid and ignorant.

It takes balls, because I can’t hide behind irony. There’s no way to brush it off when I screw up.

I can’t say it makes me a better person or that it’s going to result in amazing innovations that change the world. But it’s honest, and it gives me the freedom to learn from and explore life more fully.